An NBA reunion awaits Leonard, Snell

1of 4San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, left, talks to forward Kawhi Leonard during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Denver Nuggets, Friday, March 6, 2015, in San Antonio. The Spurs won 120-111. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)Photo: Darren Abate, FRE / Associated Press

2of 4San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard shoots a free throw during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Denver Nuggets, Friday, March 6, 2015, in San Antonio. San Antonio won 120-111. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)Photo: Darren Abate, FRE / Associated Press

3of 4INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MARCH 06: Joakim Noah #13 of the Chicago Bulls disagrees with an officals call during the game against the Indiana Pacers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on March 6, 2015 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)Photo: Andy Lyons, Staff / Getty Images

4of 4INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MARCH 06: David West #21 of the Indiana Pacers looks to pass the ball while defended by Joakim Noah #13 of the Chicago Bulls during the game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on March 6, 2015 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)Photo: Andy Lyons, Staff / Getty Images

As high school teammates in California, they led their team to a state championship, sharing both the court and a hairstyle.

With the cornrow-sporting pair of Kawhi Leonard and Tony Snell on the roster, Martin Luther King High of Riverside, California, went 30-3 in 2009, and rose as high as No. 7 in some national rankings.

They have since drifted apart, as high school classmates often do. Consider Sunday afternoon at the AT&T Center a class reunion.

Leonard, of course, is the entrenched starting small forward for the NBA champion Spurs. Snell is the new starting shooting guard for the Chicago Bulls.

“I’m very proud of him and happy for him that he’s finally getting an opportunity over there,” said Leonard, who was California’s Mr. Basketball as a senior. “He’s playing well and I’m sure there’s more to come from him.”

In his fourth NBA season, the 23-year-old Leonard has long since become an established player in the league.

He is last season’s Finals MVP, and the Spurs’ leading scorer this season at 15.4 points per game. Leonard heads into Sunday’s matinee riding a string of three straight 20-point games, his first such streak since helping close out Miami last June.

Snell was elevated to the Bulls’ starting lineup when Jimmy Butler — Chicago’s own rising star on the wing — sprained an elbow in a March 1 victory over the Clippers.

A second-year player six months younger than Leonard, Snell exemplifies the “next man up” philosophy that has helped the Bulls (39-24) hold onto second place in the Eastern Conference despite losing Butler, former league MVP Derrick Rose and sixth man Taj Gibson to injury.

“It’s a culture they’ve developed over time,” Popovich said. “It doesn’t matter who shows up, but whoever’s got a uniform on plays the same way, the same intensity, the same execution.”

Despite the Bulls’ injury woes, the Spurs view Sunday’s game as a test of the validity of their four-game winning streak.

The Bulls hammered the Spurs 104-81 in Chicago in January, with Snell scoring 12 points as one of six Bulls in double figures.

The rematch will put a challenge to a Spurs’ offense that seems to have rediscovered itself over the past four games. The Chicago frontcourt of Pau Gasol and reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year Joakim Noah remains one of the most formidable in the league.

“They grab, hold, deny, try to get you off your comfort zone,” Spurs guard Manu Ginobili said. “We really struggled in Chicago, so we look forward to playing them again. It’s a good test to see where we are.”

In terms of tenacity, Snell fits right in.

He is not Butler, whose breakout season has him high in the running for a Most Improved Player award, but he does his best to be a reasonable facsimile.

At times, it has been a struggle.

In three starts since the Butler injury, Snell has totaled 23 points and made 8 of 25 field goals.

Coming out of New Mexico in 2013, Snell drew obvious comparisons to Leonard.

He is not quite the rebounder Leonard is, and Leonard has 25 pounds on him, but both are 6-foot-7 with emerging offensive skills.

Both have a wingspan that belies their height — Leonard at 7-foot-3, Snell at 6-11½.

Then there’s this: Both players’ coaches have shown little qualm dispatching either defend the likes of LeBron James.

Popovich marvels at the thought of both players occupying the same front line in high school.

“I wouldn’t want to play against them, I know that,” Popovich said. “That’s a couple of long dudes you’ve got to go against.”

Though Snell snipped his signature cornrows before the start of the season, he has never shied from the Leonard comparisons.

“I mean, to be compared to Kawhi Leonard, we’re talking about a phenomenal player,” Snell told the Chicago Sun-Times in 2013. “His defense is amazing, he works hard, he gets better every year. You can see the work he’s put in.”

For both players from Riverside, that work will be on display again Sunday.

Leonard said he and Snell talked often as teenagers about one day making it to the NBA.